Wade (East), clocked Bryant (West) late in the 3rd quarter with a viscous forearm to prevent Bryant from scoring on an easy lay-up.

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What makes this so strange is how incredibly rare it is to see anything that resembles defense in these exhibition contests. Going hard, like Wade did, is kind of faux pas in the NBA All-Star game.

However, it did give the game a competitive flavor it has never had before. Bryant’s drive to the basket, that led to his broken nose, came as the East were in the middle of trying to erase a 17 point deficit and Wade wanted to make Bryant earn the two points on the free throw line.

The West held on to win 152-149 and Bryant finished with 27 points. In Kobe-like fashion he didn’t look phased at all when blood ran from his nose. In fact, he stayed on the floor until the final buzzer talking trash and smiling.

Bryant is accustomed to injury. He is always playing with some ailment, including a fractured shooting wrist this season.

Say what you want about the guy; he is one tough dude. That’s why it comes as no surprise to anyone that Bryant fully intends on playing in the Lakers first game back from the break against the T-Wolves on Wednesday.